Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Office of Strategic Coordination (Common Fund)

Purpose

The NIH Common Fund, in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust, will shortly be funding the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative which was launched in 2010. H3Africa was designed to facilitate a contemporary research approach to the study of the genomic and environmental determinants of common diseases in Africa, with the goal of improving the health of African populations. The goals of H3Africa are to enhance the necessary genomic expertise among African scientists, and to establish networks of African investigators by supporting infrastructure development and research projects to address health inequities in both communicable and non-communicable diseases that will eventually lead to health benefits in Africa. More information about the H3Africa initiative and a white paper with recommendations for the program can be found at www.h3africa.org.

This is a Notice of intent to publish a new FOA, the H3Africa ELSI Research Program, which will be issued in late spring/early summer 2012.

The new FOA, RFA-RM-12-005, entitled Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa): Ethical, Legal and Societal Issues (ELSI) Research Program (U01) will be published in late spring/early summer 2012. The purpose of the FOA entitled H3Africa ELSI Research Program, is to encourage applications that identify, examine and address the ethical, legal and societal issues likely to arise from genomic research and technology for individuals, families, communities and societies throughout the African continent. It is anticipated that the H3Africa ELSI Research Program will help to minimize potential harm and maximize capacity of African communities to partake of the expected benefits of improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease that will potentially occur from genomic research in Africa.

Finally, it is critical that all parties interested in applying for the H3Africa FOA complete the required registrations now in order to be ready to submit an application when the FOA is published. The following registrations must be completed before an application can be submitted to NIH: Data Universal Numbering System ( DUNS) http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/index.jsp, NATO Commercial and Government Entity Code (NCAGE Code) http://www.dlis.dla.mil/Forms/Form_AC135.asp, Central Contractor Registration (CCR) https://bpn.gov/ccr/international.aspx , eRA Commons https://public.era.nih.gov/commons/commonsInit.do and Grants.gov http://grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp . There is no monetary fee for any of the registrations. Applicants must allow at least 8 weeks for the completion of all the required registrations. Applicants already registered should verify that the principal investigator is registered in eRA Commons and is affiliated with the institution and should ensure that the institution's CCR registration, which must be renewed every 12 months, is up to date. Additionally all institutions should ensure that the Authorized Organization Representative/Signing Official has delegated signatory authority to several institutional officials in order to assure access to all required application systems throughout the application process. Applicants who encounter difficulty during any of the registrations should contact H3Africa staff immediately at H3Africa@nih.gov for assistance. After successful completion of all required registrations applicants should plan to begin the electronic submission at least one week prior to the deadline in the FOA or if the application must be submitted on paper must allow adequate time in order to ship it to the United States to allow it to arrive by the deadline stated in the FOA. Applicants should be aware of the timelines involved, late applications WILL NOT be accepted, no exceptions will be made.